Ecologising Education in Present and Future - Essay Example

ECOLOGISING EDUCATION Name Course Professor’s name University name City, State Abstract The current society has witnessed great changes both from the natural to human. The scope of the challenges are very many especially in the Australia, despite the struggles the government has made her efforts sometime are null and void. Everybody can understand that in the recent past, there have been several occasions where deforestation activities were done. The human rights have been violated each day in the public and our judicial institutions .Some political a gender that have taken course have no correlation with the human needs demanded by the people, There is still unemployment, insecurity and other more private problems that frustrate the people every day. This can be solved by switching not from analog to digital ICT only but by ecologising education for the sustainable future .This paper will form the foundation for understanding meaning of the ecologising of education , the implication in the education systems from childhood education to the other levels and how useful to the sustainable future. The paper will explain the features of ecological education, reasons for the education for sustainable future, benefits of ecologising education, challenges of ecologising education, and the opportunities of the ecological education in the present and in the future. Introduction The Australian government has in the recent past formatted the schooling programs to bring sustainability quality in their education system. The fruitful project of the teachers in Australia who came up with the international key action program and network on the ecologisation of schools and education for sustainability is a great milestone to the to the Australians. There should be more emphasis on the improvement of the ecologising of the education. This paper will form the foundation for understanding meaning of the ecologising of education, implication in the education systems to the sustainable future. The paper will explain the features of ecological education, reasons for the education for sustainable future, benefits of ecologising education, challenges of ecologising education, and the opportunities of the ecological education in the present and in the future (Rauch & Steiner, 2006). Ecologising Education in present and future The ecological education is very technical as it is when some people try to articulate the pronunciation. The foundation of school development in Australia has changed for the improvement of the sustainable quality life. The ecological education is tool for improving literacy (Sustainable and Environmental Education, 2010).Australia schools have been developed for the early childhood education to the other levels of education. The ecologising of education has a major purpose to achieve. Understanding the meaning of ecologising the education and some systems in the society is directly propositional with the imaginative skills of the students .The students are brought to ecological understanding, In other words the students ‘ interconnectedness with the external world most importantly what is considered is knowledge and emotional connections with the local natural world where they are exposed to (Judson, 2010). The ecological education is losing some meaning when we think about the future of the children and the present times, the ecological education is a concept that many have missed a hint in. This is not counted as the failures but there are reasons which can be associated to theoretical or abandoned imaginations. The programs that are offered in the elementary and our secondary school programs that are designed for high school students are crucial in providing school and community groups with reliable education for sustainability (The Saturna Ecological Education Centre (SEEC), 2014). The ecological education is practical and can solve the current challenges that are faced with the Australian government. This can be achieved by adopting the new approach towards the ecological education. The current children need the future that is bright and the government has restrained from any form of that can delay the process. This can be achieved by the recommendations of new modified methods of teaching that can give the early childhood, elementary secondary school developed ecological understanding .The most applicable method here is the cross-curriculum approach which has curricular requirement to fulfill (Judson, 2010). The behavior and the thinking of the people must have to change once they have understood the learning nature and the purpose of the ecologising of education. The government and the councils need to ensure that education for sustainability is provided to young children now to enable them have an admirable future. The purpose of the ecological education is to create more sustainable people now who will help the government in various levels .There is need to save the planet and humanity, this will help the people to be at the position of reducing the wastages and the tendency of consuming un wanted goods .The purposes of the are many just to mention that the government of Australia need to embrace the education where by the students are well valued with important values (Prezi, 2013). However, Austria government has decided to focus their attention on the notion of Sustainable development, on the concept of environmental education, and on the concepts of development-policy education and international peace education which has been adopted there curriculum and instruction document (Gruber, Wintersteiner, & Duller, 2003). Education in Australia is developed by the program of ecologising schools such that they may create critical thinkers who have empathy for the maintenance of the environment and humanity. The approach that the educators have given this system is very resilience and change is geared easily in the society .The ecological adaptation are presented to the young children now to help them remain dedicated to the environment , participate effectively in the community , appreciate the cultural diversity and equity among all the human beings. If we must have a promising future the current practices that drag the Australian education should cease .The children are the strength of the society who need to be given quality education .The pedagogical issues that can emerge can be solved by the understanding ecological education purpose. ‘We are in the period of anthropogenic epoch where by every person is unique in their own way. This means that new teaching cognitive tools should be provided to improve learning’ (Judson, 2010). This is learning that its outcome is to prepare individuals who will regenerate the earth, ensure that the wastages are minimized especially when dealing with goods. The procedure of the production of goods should be friendly to the environment. Ecologising schools develop individuals who think critically, and allows the students opportunities to realize their potentials. With the recent change of government of Australia, we have been busy archiving official resources on Sustainable Schools, as well as case studies of exemplary sustainable schools practice from the official websites of the previous Australian government. Important part to play in tackling climate change, emerging issues in the ecologising of the education, their effectiveness is sometimes what people mediate by the way the public understands, interprets, engages with or responds to such practices .strategies that are formulated alone will not overturn the tables by changing the public’s social, economic and environmental behaviors and everyday practices is also essential in the preparation of the future (Sustainable and Environmental Education, 2010). The development of ecological education in Australia has not been smooth .There are several drawbacks that the specialist have highlighted in the modern times that have delayed the success of education for the future sustainability. The root cause of the challenge for the implementation of education for sustainability in Australian schools is development of sustainability education, in the training and preparation of literate teachers. This is evident from the programs that are set in the institutions were learning of school teachers take place , teacher educators centers , school children and teacher education students, in relation to the integration of education for sustainability , some of the parts of the system are left out of the curriculum (Somerville & Green, 2012). Challenges of ecologising education are related to perceptual adjustments that should be made to protect the planet, current world-views, humanity's inherent selfishness and the need for constant adaptation based on new information. Most of the human being depends on the world for their entire life .The resources are scarce and need to be shared to maximize the possibilities of sustainable future. This problem in the recent time has grown tall and the previous system of education has not yet been abolished completely .There are traces of the old education which find way to the new method of ecologising the school. This is because those who are giving implementing the program are the end products of the old system of education (Lia, 2013). The challenges of ecologising education my range up to the difficulty to identify the relation of the information flow in the network. The issue of networking has been a major concern among the specialist. The new pedagogical methods that are adopted make the people to be entangled by time, they work to meet deadlines, this can be workload some occasions when proper instructions are not given .The future depends on the performance today and most of the teachers and the children especially those in the early childhood tend to be techno phobic and not ready to shift to the new method of curriculum implementation (Rauch & Steiner, 2006). The recent past approaches that have been used in the implementation of the ecological education have missed the main aim of the program. This has limited the effectiveness of the educational field in Australia. They focus at best ways of changing the students perceptions to the world to be optimistic at serious delusional. The center of attention is the practices in the schools and becomes more challenging when the aims of the ecological education should be achieved. Ecological education sometimes seem to have abandoned some issues , while trying to attain the new curriculum achievements there are several other challenges that can emerge .The early childhood education is given little attention and yet this forms the foundation of the ecologising the education (Judson, 2010). There are limitations involved with ecologising education. The common ones are overt and the societal behavior on their perceptions and actions that are maintained in order to ensure that sustainable education has been viewed as the most valuable subject by students is a challenge .This is mostly due to the unwillingness to change behaviors, values of education of sustainability for the future . Sometimes eco-literacy can be limited by access to the teachings, beliefs of the society, teaching practices in the society. And especially need for constant adaptation of the teachings (Lia, 2013). Problems were identified in relation to cooperation and the flow of information. Over the network, time pressures, tight deadlines and excessive workloads as a result, varying levels of commitment by staff in the coordination groups, and a lack of material and other resources for coordinators and schools. The most crucial challenges of the network in Ecologising Schools have made education for sustainable development very reluctant in achieving the goals that were set by the Australian teachers. This present behaviors that are coming up due to the pedagogical autonomy of the stakeholders which is the opportunity cost of the teachers workloads (Education for Sustainability, 2012). Ecological education is just bright and ideal that comes in this generation to transform the world and change the aptitudes and perceptions of people. There are several features that identify the ecological education. Ecological education awareness is very important in this period to create sensitivity among all the people’s relationship with the current world. Ecological education encourages the formation of an ecological consciousness and the growth of an ecological culture behavior among the people .The system of ecologising education is characterized through how the learners are equipped (Kronotsky Reserve, 2012). Ecological education is mushrooming in the Australian government and had extended to some parts of the world. The schools are almost being called to join in the understanding the ecological education concerns. This should begin with most teachers who already not trained and have limited knowledge of the ecological education and its implementation (Judson, 2010). Once learners have this opportunity they are ripe to participate in the ecological education and the school curriculum provides, not an individual potentials but also the learners are able to accept the cultural differences of the people in their environment. The benefits of the ecological education are very noble .They develop an understanding of environmental education, their economy, and the social matters. The learners have a deep understanding. They are able to interact freely with the environment .Ecological education can also give the consumers hope and divert their hopelessness. The individuals are able to transform, they change their attitude to improve the thinking skills. There are so many other benefits that are associated with being ecoliterate. The education for sustainability and future development aims at providing the future generations with several potentials (Lia, 2013). Ecologising education will be the foundation for this development that will see the world through while trying to solve their challenges and the process of implementing the education (Rauch & Steiner, 2006). Ecological education provides people with the opportunity of becoming socially, morally, mentally and irresponsibleness in all dimensions. Ecological education provides an opportunity of all kinds of understanding and cognitive tools. (Judson, 2010) The opportunities education for sustainability in future provides in the present and in the future time is very simple, the health relationship is provided between humanity and the planet to provide an environment for sustainable thinking. This is not only limited to Australia today but also open to the global world. There is an opportunity of understanding sustainability and the ecological literature making every individual feel great in his world .This is the drive force of the ecological approach to the human, political, social, environmental education. The other opportunity that eco-literacy offers is the route out of ugliness and suffering by ensuring that there is a trend were people embrace personal responsibility of actions, engagement into duties that are assigned and expected to be accomplished, and makes one to remain connected to all the world holistically . Ecologising education offers immense opportunity to the learners who are able to participate in the society effectively and attain the improved living standards .The people have an opportunity to have better living standards and are not limited but have freedom of taking their wishes both in present and the future. Australian government has developed educational curriculum that gives the opportunity for people to develop understanding that education requires learner-centered approaches in as much as the other methods are applied (Lia, 2013). Conclusion Gracefully to conclude, the current challenges can be resolved by using modern methods of the current world .The scope in which education for sustainability where the major aim is ecologising the education and the schooling systems has been covered in various spheres in this paper. The education has liberated people from the graves of dogmatism to the period of reason and especially solutions are provided to the problems that people face in the world. The problem of unemployment, unnecessary political a genders that lead to people having no peace, love , unity and the cannot be solved by not switching from analog to digital only but by ecologising education for sustainable future . References Education for Sustainability. (2012, July 11). The Austrian programme “Ecologisation of Schools—Education for Sustainability” (ECOLOG). Retrieved August 11, 2014, from http://www.education4sustainability.org/2012/07/11/the-austrian-programme- ecologisation-of-schools-education-for-sustainability-ecolog/ Gruber, B., Wintersteiner, W., & Duller, G. (2003). Friedenserziehung als Gewaltprävention . Regionale und internationale Erfahrungen , pp. 1-228. Judson, G. (2010). A New Approach to Ecological Education: Engaging Students' Imaginations in their world. Deutsche: Peter Lang. Kronotsky Reserve. (2012). Ecological education. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from http://kronoki.org/act/ecoeducation Lia, K. (2013, September 30). Ecologising Education. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://kliaportfolio.weebly.com/ecologising-education.html Prezi. (2013, September 2). Ecologising Education. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://prezi.com/xgxvdr8td0rj/ecologising-education/ Rauch, F., & Steiner, R. (2006). School development through Education for Sustainable Development in Austria. Environmental Education Research , pp. 115–127. Somerville, M., & Green, M. (2012). Place and Sustainability Literacy in Schools and Teacher Education. Joint AARE APERA International Conference, Sydney 2012, (pp. pp. 1-14). Sydney. Sustainable and Environmental Education. (2010, September 10). SEED Edition 21. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.se- ed.org.uk/resources/newsletter/SEEdNews_Sept10.pdf The Saturna Ecological Education Centre (SEEC). (2014). SEEC. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://seec64.ca/index.php?/about/seec Read More